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Baby Suzuka
}} The Baby Suzuka It is called "Suzuka Baby I" in , p.870, the reverse of what appears in the advertisements. (ベビースズカ) is a 3×4 folding Japanese camera, made and sold by Sankō Made and sold by Sankō: column in October 1951, p.31 (三光株式会社製造・発売). Other original documents mention Sankō as the distributor (発売元) and do not specify the manufacturer. Many recent sources, like , item 1420, , p.870, Lewis, p.75, Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.18, and this page of the Asacame website attribute the Baby Suzuka to Sanwa Shōkai (三和商会), but this is a mistake. between 1951 and 1954. It was essentially a copy of the Baby Pearl, and was the last example of that type of camera, originally inspired by the Zeiss Ikon Baby Ikonta. Description The Baby Suzuka is a vertically folding camera, with a folding optical finder and curved struts like the Baby Pearl from Konishiroku. There is an advance knob on the left of the finder and on the right is the folding bed release button. The back is hinged to the left and has a single red window, protected by a vertically sliding cover, to control film advance. The front leather is embossed SuzuKa in the examples observed In Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.18, in this page at Asacame and in online auctions. and SUZUKA in the advertising pictures. The back latch also has a small SUZUKA engraving. The lens is a Teriotar Anastigmat 5cm f/3.5, advertised as a coated one Advertisements in January and December 1952, reproduced in , p.142. and marked with a red C''. The lens serial numbers observed have five digits, sometimes including the letter "A" or "B" at the beginning. The shutter has 150, 100, 50, 25, B speeds and is marked ''SUZUKA. The aperture scale is at the bottom of the shutter plate and the release lever is directly situated on the shutter housing. Evolution The original Baby Suzuka has no flash synchronization. It was first advertised in the July 1951 issue of . , p.353. The column in October 1951, reproduced below, gives the price as — case is ¥700 extra. Column in October 1951, p.41. Advertisements in dated early 1952 convey the same information. Advertisement in January 1952, reproduced in , p.142, and in April 1952, reproduced in this page at Media-Planet. The Baby Suzuka II adds flash synchronization via a pin at the bottom left of the shutter casing. It was first advertised in July 1952, , p.353. and was priced at (case not included) in December. Advertisement in , reproduced in , p.142. The advertisement reproduced below was placed by Sankō in the September and October 1953 issues of . Advertisement in September 1953, p.195, and October 1953, p.225. Dedicated filters and a lens hood are mentioned in the document, which also contains some praise words by Yoshikawa Hayao (吉川速男). Further advertisements appeared until mid 1954; , p.353. See also a price list including a Baby Suzuka II, published in 1954, reproduced at Shashin-Bako. no trace of the Sankō company is left after that date. Notes Bibliography Original documents * . Advertisements by Sankō: ** September 1953, p.195; ** October 1953, p.225. * October 1951. "Kokusan kamera daitokushū" (国産カメラ大特集, Large special issue on Japanese cameras). Pp.25–44. Recent sources * Items 547–8. * P.75 (brief mention only). * P.870. * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.26. * Item 1420. Links In Japanese: * Baby Suzuka II (second camera from the top) in the A-Z 127 film cameras at Asacame * Advertisement for the Baby Suzuka published in April 1952, reproduced in this page of the Media-Planet website * Price list including a Baby Suzuka II, published in 1954, reproduced in a page of Japanese postwar advertisements at the Shashin-Bako website Category: Japanese 3x4 viewfinder folding Category: B Suzuka, Baby